what would a world look like without
soft skills well I got a glimpse of it
this morning their group of teenagers
sitting in a bus stop staring at their
phones and texting each other can they
just put their phones down and talk to
each other but that's where we are
conversation has become a lost art in
fact poor soft skills are becoming an
epidemic I think to myself and wonder
well my kids have the skills to have
relationships build friendships let
alone lead others I don't know but what
I do know is this trend needs to stop
that's why I'm here today to help save
soft skills from extinction as I stand
here in Hawaii
this is the first place where I learn
about soft skills here also known as
Aloha Aloha means breadth of life a way
of treating each other with love and
respect the irony here is as I begin to
talk about soft skills something I feel
very passionate about I want you to know
that Hawaiians are literally the poster
child for so let's begin by defining
what soft skills are soft skills are the
ability to communicate and work well
together their importance the human
culture because they are the
infrastructure that builds community for
example in the corporate world hard
skills get all the headlines but if you
want to get promoted you need strong
soft skills in his book emotional
intelligence at work Daniel Goleman
states that 90% of what moves a person
up to success letter is emotional
intelligence or EQ he also states that
EQ is two times as important in
distinguishing top performers from
average ones and four times as important
in senior roles this particular soft
skill refers to the ability to manage
your emotions with others I'd like you
to pause for a moment and think back to
your favorite teacher manager or boss do
you have someone in mind
chances are they were hired for their
hard skills experience job related tasks
etc but the reason why you remember them
is for their soft skills soft skills are
what we remember about a person for
example when you feel listened to you
feel valued and supported strong soft
skills make a person memorable soft
skills are important because they
provide context to written visual and
spoken language but as of late we've
really began to shift away from what
makes us human as technology has evolved
its created a soft skills gap we live in
a digital age where jobs can be
automated and people can be being
obsolete but the one thing that
separates us from robots and machines
our soft skills soft skills such as the
ability to empathize with another's
feelings but a differentiator that make
us human let's take for instance the job
search process most likely your resume
is filled with hard skills experience
job related tasks etc that's what got
you the interview but what you'll get
judged on during the interview is your
soft skills how you communicate your
body language tone and inflection of
voice without strong soft skills your
chances of laying the
job decrease immensely technology has
made communication more efficient but
it's also created a disconnect like an
online-dating we readily trust a
person's profile rather than actually
getting to know them in person we choose
to communicate via text and email and
risk miscommunication
even though 93% of communication is
nonverbal or we find ourselves easily
distracted constantly checking our phone
rather than actually talking to the
people that were with with the click of
a button we can buy send and update our
status instantly but we're not fully
present we're distracted but let's get
something straight here technology is
not the enemy of soft skills
conveniences it's much more convenient
to communicate virtually in fact it
takes more effort energy and focus to
talk to and listen to someone in real
lives than it doesn't respond to them
online but because we've chosen the easy
way out
our soft skills have you roted because
of it so this raises the question if we
continue with this pace well soft skills
you ventually become extinct the answer
is yes but I do believe there's hope
especially in the following story did
you know that less than a century ago
the Hawaiian language is almost lost in
fact every two weeks a language dies
which equates to half of all the world's
languages are in danger of becoming
extinct within the next generation
Larry Kimura a native Hawaiian descent
noticed that the Hawaiian language was
becoming an endangered species at the
time there were only 50 known native
speakers of Hawaiian
so Kimura made it his personal mission
to save the Hawaiian language he and a
friend co-founded the Puna jaleo
preschools in the 1980s to teach
Hawaiian culture as of 2016 there were
2,000 students enrolled and 18,000
Native Hawaiian speakers listed that's
some amazing stuff so Kimura a
University of Hawaii at Hilo professor
has definitely done his part to save the
Hawaiian language from extinction but we
need to know that if we don't make a
concerted effort soft skills will
disappear as we know it in order to
preserve soft skills we need to know it
at its core it's about connection soft
skills are kind of like relationships
and that they take time to develop to
truly blossom relationships are
foundational to any great accomplishment
and without strong soft skills your
personal impact is limited but because
soft skills take time to cultivate to
truly develop unfortunately we live in
an instant gratification society we
don't want everything now but not here
in Hawaii there's no rush here people
are present they're not distracted for
example have you ever noticed how
relaxed people drive here on the
highways as someone who was born and
raised in Los Angeles if I drive 50
miles per hour on the 405 I will get
honked at he held it and cut off in a
matter of seconds learning soft skills
requires patience and repetition I'm
learning this as a parent
as a father my goal is to give my kids
the tools to effectively navigate the
world both socially and emotionally by
teaching and modeling to them soft
skills like putting their phone down
during dinner time making eye contact
when talking to others or initiating
conversations by asking questions so
what can you do to save soft skills from
extinction well you can start by not
assuming that soft skills are common
sense James Heckman Nobel Prize winner
and University of Chicago economist
wanted to know what an advantage does a
high school student have over GD
graduate if they have similar test
scores so I've researched a Perry
preschool project it started in the
1960s with 123 disadvantaged children
put in a program five days a week for
two hours over a period of two years
starting at the ages of three and four
what he found was this by teaching
character conscientiousness grit and
delayed gratification it resulted in
higher annual income better health and
less crimes attempted he also found that
investing in early education development
with an emphasis on communication
boosted soft skills and influence like
human all participants in fact this
program was so successful that the
effects of it are still being felt
through generations nearly 50 years
later so our job is to make sure that we
teach and model soft skills to the next
generation of co-workers peers and
children
we can do this by being proactive
volunteering as a leader being adaptable
and problem-solving our local community
we can also develop our soft skills by
learning how to actively listen being
aware of our body language and uplifting
teammates with a positive attitude we
actually need to take the example of
Hawaiians
and spread Aloha to each other so my
challenge for you is this invest in
people by learning how to actively
listen and communicate more effectively
that's how you and I can help save soft
skills from extinction Mahalo for your
time and for sharing the Aloha spirit
with me thank you